Some medical devices, such as wire guides and catheters, may be inserted into a patient's vascular system or other body lumen. Wire guides and catheters may be used in angioplasty procedures, diagnostic and interventional procedures, percutaneous access procedures, or radiological and neuroradiological procedures in general. Wire guides are commonly used in vascular procedures to introduce a wide variety of medical devices (e.g., catheters) into the vascular system. Catheters may also be used to provide access into the vascular system.
Medical devices may encounter various challenges as they are guided through a patient's vascular system or other body lumen. For example, a procedure may require a physician to steer a wire guide or catheter through tortuous passageways before reaching a destination. In such a procedure, the device needs sufficient stiffness to be pushed along the path while remaining flexible enough to pass through the tortuous passageways without causing damage. Additionally, the patient's vascular system or other body lumen may contain occlusions that impede the device along its path. It may be difficult for some medical devices to pass through occlusions. These occlusions may also impede fluid flow in the body lumen. Therefore, a need exists for an improved medical device for passing through and/or clearing occlusions.